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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

When do you stop..

130 replies

ginandjuice · 11/12/2015 22:15

...Calling your parents mummy and daddy?

Not an aibu but just curious.. When is really too old to be using the names mummy and daddy?

OP posts:
lilwelshyrs · 11/12/2015 22:44

I still call them mummy and daddy... But only to them... And I'm nearly 30 Shock
I never managed to comfortably call them mum or dad despite trying...

Tired2ndTimeMum · 11/12/2015 22:46

Never... I'm 33 and still refer to my parents as Mammy and Daddy.

SalemSaberhagen · 11/12/2015 22:47

28 here and I still do. And I'm the opposite of posh!

StarkyTheDirewolf · 11/12/2015 22:49

My dm is either Mam(my) or Mother. I've called her Mother since I was about 5. Similarly, df is 'father', 'Daddyyyyyyy' if I need a lift, or £10.

I've already decided that when i bring forth life from my loins, they shall be Nanny and Bampy.

Salmotrutta · 11/12/2015 22:50

I, personally, stopped saying "mummy/Daddy at about 5 and my own DC were similar.
It probably coincided with starting school really.

The only grown up people I have come across who say "Mummy and Daddy" are proper "toffs" - as in landed gentry types.

PastaLaFeasta · 11/12/2015 22:50

DH uses mummy and daddy and it does sound very odd. DC1 is five and still uses those names but also mum and dad and often uses DH's actual name.

Salmotrutta · 11/12/2015 22:54

Oh, actually I do know one or two people from Northern Ireland who say "Mummy and Daddy" but I have no clue if it's the same in Eire (is that correct??)

Excuse my ignorance!

Original poster
ginandjuice · 11/12/2015 23:03

I just think a teenage boy saying it sounds odd... But it's none of my business lol!

OP posts:
AgentZigzag · 11/12/2015 23:09

About 8 or 9 maybe?

DD1 (15) was the same but has now transitioned into calling me 'mother', with an exasperated emphasis so it sounds like

DD2 keeps calling me mama which I loathe.

ReadyPlayerOne · 11/12/2015 23:10

I don't remember when. I sometimes say mummy now in a jokey sort of way. I'm 30. My eldest is 6; DH and I have been dad and mum for about 2 years now.

MrSlant · 11/12/2015 23:10

I think a teenage boy still saying it sounds sweet but then my mum(my) called her mum and dad that until they died in their 90's and if she'd suddenly changed to 'mum' it would have sounded very weird!

MrSlant will always be a daddy's girl I do hate myself for typing that if it helps?

5Foot5 · 11/12/2015 23:10

Lots of posh people never stop.

Yes I have always assumed it was a class thing. I had definitely moved to Mum and Dad by the time I reached secondary school - as had most people I know or have ever known. But one of the poshest people I met at Uni always called her mother Mummy.

jemimavintage · 11/12/2015 23:11

My 20 year old daughter still calls me mummy and her dad daddy....but that's a thing from his side, not mine.. If I ever called my mum or dad 'mummy/daddy', I'd probably get a slap!! We're northerners tho, we're well 'arddddd, lol..... His lot are southerners... :)

WhatTheHellDoIDoNoww · 11/12/2015 23:11

DCs aged 13 and 18 stopped so long ago that I can't remember when.

DC age 5 still does but also said Mum, Dad from an early age.

Maybe your stepchildren say it to feel closer to their Dad as they are living apart OP.

IAmACuboid · 11/12/2015 23:11

I tried to change it mid teens, 14 or so I guess.
This was prompted by accidentally calling my teacher 'Mummy'... Blush

DM didn't want to be called Mum, so I tried Ma, Mutti, and her actual name, and eventually settled on Mother, which she hates, but tough shit. She should've just let me call her Mum.

LikeASoulWithoutAMind · 11/12/2015 23:15

I can't imagine calling my own parents Mummy and Daddy, switched to mum and dad by the end of primary school.

My dcs call me Mummy when their mates aren't listening anyway and can't imagine wanting that to change even though the eldest is 11. I guess it probably will over the next couple of years though.

steppemum · 11/12/2015 23:17

My mum called her parents Mummy and Daddy until they died.

I probably switched over as a teen, but would still say it sometimes.

My dcs used Mummy until they were 10 ish. In fact ds age 13 calls me Mum, but dd is 10 and dd2 is 8 and they still say Mummy.

They don't use Daddy, they use Papa, and still use that (dh calls his father Pa) don't know when he switched.

Maidofdishonour · 11/12/2015 23:18

Both my DSs (22 and 21) call me 'Mother' and have done so for a few years. I have no idea where it came from or why and I was a bit put out at first but it has stuck now. Occasionally DS1 calls me 'Ma' which I hate and refuse to answer to but can't help but smile as he goes off chuckling at my response.

AgentZigzag · 11/12/2015 23:19

I suppose I would wonder why a 16 YO lad was still calling his dad daddy, does he do it when they're out or is it just at home?

Is there a slight pisstake edge when he says it? Turning it more into a nickname and banter they have between them?

LeotardoDaVinci · 11/12/2015 23:20

my DC call us Mummy & Daddy - we have given the eldest (13) the go-ahead to switch to Mum and Dad but she prefers not to. In front of friends though we are a muttered "Mum" or "Dad" which I think is sad: she thinks of us as Mummy & Daddy but feels peer pressure to call us otherwise. What the hell does it matter???

donajimena · 11/12/2015 23:22

I can't remember but my 10 year old calls me mummy

Gruntfuttock · 11/12/2015 23:22

I can't remember exactly when, but I'm sure it would have been when I was still in primary school and probably around 7 yrs old. After that it was mum and dad and I left what I laughingly call 'home' at the age of 16. My parents and I really hated each other.

CanadianMum2 · 11/12/2015 23:23

As said earlier - when they die. And even then, when I really miss them, mummy and daddy still work.

CoraBeth · 11/12/2015 23:23

I think these threads are bitchy.
Whatever families choose to use is their business.
op you don't like it. So started a thread.
You are a bit bothered obviously. Confused

HicDraconis · 11/12/2015 23:24

My DC (8 & 10) still call us Mummy and Daddy. I still call my father Daddy (at 43). I would use Mummy for my mother if she were still alive.

It's the name I've always used. Why should I change? Doesn't sound wrong to me, never has done.